The dropout rate for young female athletes in various sports after the age of 13 is startlingly steep. Acknowledging this alarming trend (and with ambitions to flip the script), one of the KPIs set by USA Swimming for the series was to motivate budding female swimmers by showcasing relatable role models.
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Off the Blocks
Competition
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Off the Blocks
authenticity + just the right amount of swagger
With the pandemic in the rear view mirror, SE4 of USA Swimming's "Off the Blocks" called for a reboot. The goal was morphing the series into something familiar to our audience BUT with a fresh new style and tone designed for a world that’s been through a COVID-19 rollercoaster.
client
USA Swimming
location
Greensboro, Las Vegas, Colorado Springs, Boston, Virginia, Arizona
days of production
27
# OF OLYMPIANS FEATURED IN THE SERIES
21
MISSION
Inspiring Female Swimmers to stick with the Sport
4
# OF AQUARIUMS USED IN PRODUCTION
Specifically Social
We're all guilty of a deep dive into the scroll abyss on our go-to social media platforms—and guess what, so is our target demographic! By specifically producing a minimum of 2 fun, upbeat reels per location, we charged up the promotion of the each episode with it's own social specific assets (not just a rehash of the same footage used in the EP)
FAQ
Your Questions, Answered
If you’re building competition or Creator formats, these are the questions that matter. Here’s how we design content systems and broadcasts that actually work in a creator-shaped world.
Start here.
Everything you need to know about how we build competitive entertainment
Can Boombox build a full content system around a competition, not just cover it?
Yes, and this is one of our core strengths. We build the full content architecture around your competition, not just produce the live show. That means live coverage, character-driven stories, social cuts, season arcs, pre-event build-up, and post-event recaps, all designed as an interconnected system that makes the competition feel bigger than any single broadcast moment. We've done this for Riot Games across the LCS, for Red Bull across multiple properties, and for emerging leagues building their content infrastructure from scratch.
How does Boombox think about platform-first content vs. broadcast-first content?
We think platform-first is the right starting point for almost everything we make today. Broadcast reaches a defined audience at a defined time. Platform-first content (designed for TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Instagram) reaches audiences on their terms, in formats they've chosen to consume. Our approach starts with vertical-first (9:16) social content and integrates it back into the broadcast, rather than treating social as a secondary output. This isn't just more efficient, it produces better content, because it forces clarity about what's actually compelling about the competition before the cameras roll.
How does Boombox approach content for leagues and events that want younger audiences?
Younger audiences don't watch differently, they watch on different platforms, in different formats, with different expectations about who gets to be on camera. Boombox's approach starts with platform-first thinking: we design content systems around where the audience actually lives (TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, Instagram) and work backward to broadcast, rather than the other way around. We integrate creators into productions as participants, not window dressing. And we build in the social infrastructure, the cuts, the formats, the characters, from day one of pre-production, not as an afterthought in post.
